"Our involvement in the war was justifiable, and this belongs to our sovereign rights," North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said. "I regard this as part of the sacred mission we must execute for our brothers and comrades-in-arms."
"We have a plan B and a plan C. But our focus is plan A, the essence of which is to get everyone's support" for Ukraine's accession, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"(T)he presence at the Victory Parade of a country that bombs cities, hospitals, and daycares, and which has caused the deaths and injuries of over a million people over three years, is a shame," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
"According to the participants of the performances, their goal is to remind the civilized world of the barbaric actions of Moscow, which for many years and decades has systematically violated international law," a source in Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR) told the Kyiv Independent.
"I have great hope that an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine will be reached this weekend," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on May 9, shortly before traveling to Kyiv alongside the leaders of France, Poland, and the U.K.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will arrive in Kyiv early on May 10.
The United States embassy in Kyiv on May 9 issued a warning that Russia could launch "a potentially significant" attack in the coming days, despite Putin's self-declared Victory Day "truce."
The sanctioned oil tankers have transported over $24 billion in cargo since 2024, according to Downing Street. The U.K. has now sanctioned more shadow fleet vessels than any other country.
Washington and its partners are considering additional sanctions if the parties do not observe a ceasefire, with political and technical negotiations between Europe and the U.S. intensifying since last week, Reuters' source said.
Illustrative purposes: Cargo ships and car ferries cross the Kerch Strait as the Crimea bridge is seen behind as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Crimea on July 25, 2023. (Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russia has declared a federal state of emergency in response to an ongoing oil spill in the Kerch Strait, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Aleksandr Kurenkov announced on Dec. 26.
The crisis began when two Russian oil tankers,Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239, suffered severe damage during a storm on Dec. 15. Both vessels were reportedly carrying about 4,000 tons of fuel, which began leaking into the Black Sea.
"I propose to classify the emergency situation caused by the tanker wreck in the Kerch Strait as an emergency situation of a federal nature and establish a federal level of response," Kurenkov said on Dec. 26.
Russian state funds will now be directed to the emergency response and cleanup effort.
Some 3,700 tons of low-grade fuel oil have spilled into the Kerch Strait, according to the Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti. Russian scientist Viktor Danilov-Danilyan said in a press conference on Dec. 25 that about 200,000 tons of soil along the Black Sea coast have been contaminated.
The Kerch Strait separates mainland Russia from Russian-occupied Crimea.
"Any oil or petrochemical spill in these waters has the potential to be serious," the head of Greenpeace Research Laboratories, Dr. Paul Johnston, said in a statement.
In October, the Kyiv School of Economics Institute warned that Russia's "shadow fleet" of old and poorly insured tankers pose significant environmental risks, as these vessels increase the danger of oil spills.
Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has caused massive environmental damage, including the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and subsequent flooding, widespread forest fires, and the devastation of wide stretches of farm land.
Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.
Martin Fornusek
